H7g1. Death is fairer and richer than God. .13.15.16.27.29.31.

A man (usually looking for a godfather for his newborn son) rejects God (the saints) and the devil, but praises Death: it treats everyone without prejudice (or is richer than everyone).

Amhara, Portuguese, Galicians, Basques, Italians (Ticino, Veneto), Ladins, Bretons, French (Anjou, Limousin, Gascony, Languedoc, Dauphiné), Germans (Saxony?, Pomerania), Irish, Macedonians, Romanians, Adyghe, Ossetians, Georgians (Kartli), Armenians, Icelanders, Norwegians, Estonians, Lutsi, Latvians, Lithuanians.

Sudan – East Africa. Amhara : Gankin 1979, no. 172 [God, Rain and Death entered a house; the owner began to beat the first two for their injustice; he kindly invites Death, says that she is fair, let her companions spend the night (retelling in Kotlyar 2009, no. 506: 258)], 185 [a rich man makes an agreement with Death that she will warn him of her arrival; his cattle die, then his children; the rich man asks Death when she appears why without warning; the death of his loved ones was just that, the rich man died (=Tyutryumova 1991: 23-24; retelling in Kotlyar 2009, no. 507: 259)]: 219-221, 234.

Southern Europe. Portuguese [a poor man chose Death as his godfather because he is more just than God and the devil; Death gives the poor man or his son the ability to see her at the sick man's bedside and accordingly determine whether the patient will recover or die; this doctor deceives Death by not finishing the Our Father, which he was allowed to recite before death, or by turning the bed; or the man changes clothes and disguises himself, but Death cannot be fooled; Death provokes the man to finish the prayer either by extinguishing his candle/lamp, when he brings him to a place where each candle represents the life of one person]: Cardigos 2006, no. 332: 83; Galicians [a man went out to look for a godfather for a child; rejects the devil (confuses and seduces people), God (gives much to some, nothing to others), agrees to call Death (treats everyone equally)]: Contos 1972, no. 5: 15; Basques [God knocked on the door of a poor coal miner; he did not open the door, saying that God was unfair; the next evening Death knocked; the coal miner opened the door, because Death is equal to everyone; Death rewarded him by advising him to go to the sick queen; if Death stands at the head, the queen will die, if at the feet, she will recover; seeing Death at the feet of the queen, the coal miner "cured" the sick woman; became a court physician; one day Death came to him too; he asked permission to read the Lord's Prayer and the Ave Maria; he read the Lord's Prayer, but did not intend to read the Ave Maria; then Death pretended to hang herself; seeing the corpse, the man read the Ave Maria and Death took it]: Azcua 1942, no. 59: 166-170; Italians(Ticino) [Hans is 20 years old, he went on a journey; shared his food with two travelers, they were the Lord and St. Paul; they offered to fulfill two of his wishes; G.: whatever I want, let it be in my sack and not leave it without permission; that no one could climb down from the fig tree in my garden without my permission; as for the salvation of the soul, I can achieve it myself; in the city, the devil and two little devils settled in the town hall, whoever enters perishes; G. comes to the town hall, cooks food, the devils fall out of the fireplace; G. suggests playing cards: the loser must leave the town hall forever; the devils lost, but do not want to leave; G. tells them to end up in a sack; promises to release them if they show where the treasure is buried; the devil refuses; iron is thrown onto the sack; the little devils died, the devil agrees; he has to dig up the treasure himself and sign in blood that he will not do any more mischief; G. seeks a godfather for the newborn; refuses to take the Lord or St. Paul - there is no justice in their world; Death {masculine} takes him, she treats everyone equally; G.'s wife and child die; when Death comes for him, he asks to be allowed to eat the fruit of the trees planted; Death promises to come in a hundred years; Death comes, loses at cards, gives Hans another hundred years; the third time G. invites her to climb a fig tree and eat the fruit; Death cannot get down; gives another hundred years; after 300 years leads G. to hell; the devil, seeing him, drives him out of hell in horror; at the gates of heaven, G. asks St. Peter to call his friend St. Paul; while he is calling him, G. throws a sack over the threshold, then orders that he himself fall into it; and so remains in heaven]: Keller 1981: 190-197; Italians (Veneto) [an old man's young wife gave birth to a son; the husband went to look for a suitable godfather; rejected God and the devil, agreed to Death's offer, since it is equally fair to everyone; in order to thank the man for the honor, Death offers the man to become a doctor; if he notices it at the door of a sick person, it means there is no point in treating him, the patient will die anyway; if Death is not standing there, he will recover anyway; the man became rich; Death called him to her place, showed him all the rooms except one; the man asked to be taken there too; there are lamps there, each one is a person's life; the oil in the lamp of the newcomer is almost gone; he asks for more, but Death refuses; the man returned home, said goodbye to his family and died]: Widter et al. 1866, No. 3: 16-19; Ladins[a father with many children seeks a godson for his newborn son; rejects the old man {is this God?} – too old; a trait; agrees to the proposal of the man-Death; the godson gives his godfather a gift: let him become a doctor; when he enters the sick and sees Death in the heads, the patient will die; and if in the feet – he will recover; accordingly, let him pretend to heal, he will become famous; the godson did so; but one day he himself fell ill and saw Death in the heads; asked his wife to turn the bed; many years later he again saw Death in the heads, but he did not allow him to do anything: you will die and that’s it!]: Decurtins, Brunold-Bigler 2002, No. 78: 211-213.

Western Europe. Bretons [a poor man seeks a godfather for his newborn son; rejects God (unjust), St. Peter (does not allow the poor who have committed minor offenses into heaven), accepts Ankou (death) because he is just; A. orders his son to become a doctor; he will see him, and if he stands at the feet of the sick, he will recover, but at the heads, he will die; the young man becomes rich; A. brings him to his palace, where millions of candles burn; the one whose candle goes out dies; the young man sees that his candle is about to go out; the doctor returns home and dies three days later]: Delarue, Tenêzer 1964, no. 332: 367-368; French (Anjou, Limousin, Gascony, Languedoc, Dauphiné) [publications containing episode IB of ATU 332 plot]: Delarue, Tenêzer 1964: 369-371; French (Gascony) [when the woodcutter Bernard had his 10th child, he went to look for a godfather; rejected the devil, God (he is unjust), took Death {a man} as godfather; she took the boy and told B. to come back in 10 years; Death shows B. all the rooms except one; B. insists on being shown that one too; Death: you will repent; there are candles there; when a candle burns out, a person dies; B.'s candle is about to burn out; B. asks not to put it out before he has finished his prayer; leaves without finishing; one day B.'s horses stopped; the coachman said there was a dead body on the road; B. recited the Lord's Prayer in fear; the dead man rose up - it was Death; B. died]: Dardy 1891, No. 43: 133-149; Germans (Marie Elisabeth Wild (Hesse - France) and Friedrich Gustav Schilling, Dresden, mixed version) [when a poor man had his 13th child, he decided to take as godparent the first person he met on the road; rejects the Lord (distributes wealth unfairly), the devil (a deceiver); chooses Death, because she is impartial; when the boy grew up, Death gave him some healing herbs; if he sees Death at the head of a sick person, let him heal him, but if at his feet, let him say that the patient is hopeless; the young man became a famous doctor; one day he turned the patient over in bed; Death was angry, but forgave; and when he had cured the dying princess in the same way, Death said that it was now his turn; brought him into the cave; the candles themselves were burning, the youth's candle was about to go out; he asked to light it again, to enjoy life with the princess; Death put out his candle]: Grimm, Grimm 2002, No. 44: 148-151; Germans(Pomerania) [a farm laborer has 23 sons; when another one is born, he cannot find a godfather; the farm laborer goes looking; soon he meets a girl; she says that she is God and is ready to be a godmother; the farm laborer refuses: God is unfair; he meets the devil - the same thing; then an old man; this is Death; the farm laborer is glad; the son is named Hans; the godfather gave the pastor a key and told him to give it to G. when he grows up; G., having received the key, went wandering; there is a castle in the forest; the key fits the gate; there is much light in the palace; the godfather comes out - an old man - Death; the light from the lamps, each burns as long as a person lives; G. sees that his father has a couple of days left to live; he asks to light a new lamp for him; G.'s own lamp should burn for a long time; G. went on; again the house, the key fits again, a white horse is behind the door; the horse: if you opened the door, then are you Death? G. asked him to feed him; horse: here is food and wine, and then let's run, this is a den of robbers; G. mounted the horse, it rose to the clouds and flew away; G. sees a bird with shining plumage; the horse advises not to touch it; but G. turned the key into a gun, fired, the bullet hit the bird and G., contrary to the horse's advice, picked up a feather; near the city, the horse orders that the bridle be taken off him: if you shake it, he will appear; and let G. hire himself out as a groom; the king has forbidden lighting a fire at night; G. lives in a stable; at night he took out a feather and the stable was illuminated; servants came running, found the feather, brought G. to the king; he demands that the bird itself be obtained in three days; horse: ask the ship for three ships with provisions to sail to the princess, on whose table the bird is; Six months later they swam to the shore and G. released three carps that had found themselves on the sand into the sea; they promised to help; in another place three giants were fighting; a storm had destroyed all their property, only an ox remained; the one who killed the other two would eat the ox, and then die himself; G. gave the giants cattle and grain seeds, etc., which he had brought with him; the giants promised to help; on another island there was a storks' nest in a pine tree; a black cloud with hail was approaching; G. covered the storks with branches; adult storks arrived, the chicks told them everything; for the first time they would be able to raise the chicks; the storks promised to help G.; they swam to the castle, the key unlocked the door; the princess was sleeping in the bedroom; there was a golden and an iron cage on the table; as the horse had taught, G. put the golden bird in an iron cage and carried it away; he brought it to the king; having learned how everything had happened, he ordered to get the princess; The horse teaches how to swim to the princess, taking a hundred trumpets; at 50, blow under the window of the castle; if she wants to hear another 50, let her go up on the ship; when she got up, G. took her away; she threw all the keys to the rooms of her palace into the sea; tells the king that she will not marry him until she has a palace better than her previous one; The horse: the giants will help you; the giants gave you an iron ring, it created a palace; The princess: let them bring my keys from the sea; The horse: ask for carp; carp are the kings of the sea, they called all the fish; the last to arrive was an old pike; she found the golden keys, decided to deliver them; but since they are heavy, she was delayed; The princess demands the water of life, the water of beauty and the water of death; The horse: ask the storks; G.swam to them; these are blue storks; they say that the water of life and the water of beauty are with them, and the water of death must be asked from the white storks; they flew to them, defeated them, brought a vessel with the water of death; G. gave all three vessels to the princess; she pierced him with a dagger, sprinkled him with the water of beauty and revived him with the water of life; the king wanted the same, but she sprinkled him with the water of death; G. became king and married the princess; the horse orders to slaughter him, and then wash him with the water of beauty and the water of life; the horse became a princess; G.: I already have a wife, but become the wife of one of my brothers; she chose the youngest; from among the remaining 22, 11 began to serve G., and the others - the brother who married the princess; and if G. did not die, then he is still alive]: Jahn 1891, No. 9: 48-61;Irish : Muller 2006, #103 [a poor man in County Cork cannot find a godson for his newborn; rejects the devil, God (he is unfair), agrees to Death's offer (a man) - he is the same as everyone else; Death teaches how to get rid of poverty; call himself a doctor, go to the sick person's bed; if Death is in the head, he will die, if in the legs - he will recover, and what medicine to give - does not matter; once he saw Death in the head at the bed of a friend, ordered to turn the bed; Death said that now he will see him only when he comes for him; when Death came to take the man, he asked not to take him until he reads a prayer; Death promised, but the man has not read prayers since then; one day a crying boy began to complain that he forgot the prayer that his mother taught him, which is why he cannot return home - his father will kill him; the man read the Lord's Prayer for him; the child turned out to be Death and took him]: 159-162.

Balkans. Macedonians [a man goes to look for a godfather for his newborn son; rejects Jesus, the Virgin Mary: they are unfair; agrees to the offer of the angel of death (AS): treats everyone equally; the man grew up, grew old; AS came for him; he asked for a week's delay; hid behind the door; AS found him; another week (in a chest); after the third delay, he left home; a stranger digs a hole; the man thinks it is too small; AS invites him to try; reproaches: the man could have died in the bosom of his family, but now he will die on the road; took his soul and filled in the hole]: Mazon 1936, no. 46: 179-183; Romanians [two brothers divided a vineyard; hail damaged the vines of the poor man and left the rich man alone; the poor man goes to give the remaining bunches of grapes to someone who can explain why this happened; rejects God - unfair; praises Death - treats everyone equally; she gives him a handkerchief with which he will cure every sick person at whose feet Death will stand; the poor man cured the rich boyar and received a lot of gold; on the advice of his wife, the rich man pretended to be sick in order to expose his brother; he saw Death at the head of his bed, said that he would soon die and he died]: Bîrlea 1966: 410-411.

Caucasus – Asia Minor. Adyghe (Bzhedugi) [a poor man does not invite God to share a meal, because God is unfair; Psekhekh (the angel of death) invites him; he advises him to go to his sick daughter, pshi; if he, P., stands at her head, the girl will die, if at her feet, she will recover; the poor man sees P. at her head, gives the girl water with flour, she recovers, pshi rewards him]: Alieva 1978, No. 57: 321-322; Ossetians [a poor man cannot feed his family, leaves home; God sends the intermediary Uasgergi to detain him, then goes himself; the poor man scolds both of them for their injustice; God sends Uodesag (the soul-taker); the poor man praises him for his impartiality; U. gives him a mirror, advises him to become a doctor; if he saw U. in the mirror, the patient will die, if not, he will recover, let him prescribe any medicine; a poor man becomes a famous doctor, gets rich; treats the king]: Dzagurov 1983, No. 105: 447-458; Georgians (Kartli) [a peasant goes to look for a godfather for his son; his wife tells him to find the richest one; the peasant rejects Christ, St. George (they are poor), invites Death (she is in rich clothes); after baptism, Death advises the peasant to undertake to treat the patient if he sees her at the feet, to refuse if at the head; the peasant becomes a famous doctor, gets rich; one day he sees Death at his head; he makes her promise not to kill him until he finishes the prayer; breaks off the prayer in the middle; with a break of several years the peasant adds a line, but is far from the end; Death brings him a golden coffin into the yard, a package on top, with the text of a prayer on it; carried away, the peasant read it to the end, Death jumped out of the coffin and killed him]: Nisharadze 1894: 145-148; Armenians (Baraleti is a village with an Armenian population) [a peasant goes to look for a godfather for his son; his wife tells him to find the richest one; the peasant rejects Christ, St. George (they are poor), invites Death (she is in rich clothes); after the baptism, Death advises the peasant to undertake to treat the sick if he sees her at the feet, to refuse if at the head; the peasant becomes a famous doctor, gets rich; one day he sees Death at his head; he makes her promise not to kill him until he finishes the prayer; breaks off the prayer in the middle; with a break of several years the peasant adds a line, but is far from the end; Death brings him a golden coffin into the yard, a package on top, with the text of a prayer on it; carried away, the peasant read it to the end, Death jumped out of the coffin and killed him]: Bogoyavlensky 1894v: 145-148.

Baltoscandia. Irish [a poor man in County Cork cannot find a godson for a newborn; rejects the devil, God (he is unfair), agrees to the offer of Death (a man) - he is the same as everyone else; Death teaches how to get rid of poverty; call himself a doctor, go to the bed of a sick person; if Death is in the heads, he will die, if in the legs - he will recover, and what medicine to give - it does not matter; once he saw Death in the heads at the bed of a friend, ordered to turn the bed; Death said that now he will see him only when he comes for him; when Death came to take the man, he asked not to take him until he read a prayer; Death promised, but the man since then did not read prayers; one day a crying boy began to complain that he forgot the prayer that his mother taught him, so he cannot return home - his father will kill; the man read Our Father for him; the child turned out to be Death and took him]: Muller 2006, No. 103: 159-162; Norwegians [a young man drags a heavy keg of beer, thinks about who he can share some with to make it easier to carry; drives away Providence (unfair), the Devil (harmful), sits down to drink with Death, since he is equal to everyone; Death rewards him: the keg will not run dry, the beer will become a medicine, the young man - a doctor; if he sees Death at the feet of a sick person, he must undertake to treat, if at the heads - useless; at the bedside of the princess, the young man sees Death at the heads; tells the servants to turn the bed; Death wants to take him away; he asks to take him away after he reads a prayer, stops without saying the last word; one day Death brings him a board with the full text; the youth wakes up and reads to the end, Death takes him]: Asbjíørsen, Moe 1960: 131-134; 279; Estonians (NE Estonia, Simuna) [a farmhand served 7 years without pay; decided to leave for a new job; the owner gave him a lot of bread, mutton and a keg of beer; sitting down to rest, the farmhand offered to share his meal with anyone who could hear him; the devil came, then God; he does not know the first, and the second is unfair; Death came, the farmhand is glad to see her, she is the same with everyone; when everyone has eaten and drunk, the farmhand asks how Death manages to get into locked rooms; she replies that it is simple, she ends up in a keg; the farmhand plugged it with a cork, then tied stones to it and drowned it in the sea; people stopped dying, the old people complain; after 7 years the barrel floated up, the fishermen opened it, death came out, grabbed the scythe from the mowers and went to do its thing]: Mälk et al. 1967, no. 57: 148-150; Lutsi (zap. 1933; Catholic informant, Russian-speaking, Polish only in church) [the drunkard locked himself in; did not open the door to God, to the angel – they were unfair; let death in, it is the same with everyone; asks if death, having become a fly, can get into the bottle; closed the bottle; no one dies; the tsar ordered death to be let out; the drunkard died first, and then the dead were taken away in wagons]: Annom et al. 2018: 208-209; Latvians [ Godson of Death. No one will become a godfather to a poor man. Having rejected God and the devil because of their injustice, the poor man chooses death. Death makes his godson a doctor, but on the condition that he will treat only those patients who have Death at their feet. If it stands at the head of the bed, the patient must die. The godson, in order to cheat death, turns the patient's bed. Death takes the godson, shows a burnt candle - his life, the godson dies. Or: Finally, the son buries death (sickle) on a sand hill so that it does not mow down people. God asks the sun where death is. The sun sends him to the moon, the moon - to the wind. The wind blows until it blows away the sand from the hill where death is buried. First she kills the son, then the others]: Arijs, Medne 1977, No. 332: 279; Lithuanians [a poor man goes to look for a godson for a child; rejects God (unfair), agrees to Death's offer (fair); the boy grew up, Death told him to become a doctor; if he sees her in the patient's head, he will die, if in his feet, he will recover; when he came through him, he turned the bed; but in the end Death overcame him]: Kerbelyte 2014, No. 52: 120-121.